Apparatus for observing flowing aqueous paper pulp stock

ABSTRACT

A DEVICE FOR OBSERVING THE CHARACTER OF AQUEOUS PAPER PULP STOCKS WHICH COMPRISES A RECEPTACLE, A DARK COLORED TRANSPARENT HYALINE SHEET SUPPORTED SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTALLY IN SAID RECEPTACLE AND MEANS FOR CONTINUOUSLY FLOWING AQUEOUS PAPER PULP OVER SAID HYALINE SHEET FOR VISUAL INSPECTION.

Sept. 21, 1911 F, Fox I 3,606,912

APPARATUS FOR OBSER-VING FLOWING AQUEOUS PAPER PULP STOCK Filed Dec. 13. 1968 z/enfor United States Patent ()1 hoe 3,606,912 APPARATUS FOR OBSERVING FLOWlN G AQUEOUS PAPER PULP STOCK Leslie F. Fox, Stevens Point, Wis., assignor to Consolidated Papers, Inc., Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. Filed Dec. 13, 1968, Ser. No. 783,491 Int. Cl. F17d 3/00 U.S. Cl. 137-559 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present invention relates to means for evaluating paper pulp fibers and sometimes termed a continuous blue glass tester, the purpose of which is to assist paper screen room operators in evaluating paper stock, for example groundwood reject stock which comes from the secondary screen in paper making.

The device in general comprises a rectangular receptacle with an inlet and outlet well at its opposed ends, the inlet being provided with means for introducing aqueous paper stock and diluting water therefore and the outlet being as indicated for discharging the diluted paper stock after it has passed by gravity over an intermediate hyaline, such as a glass or plastic, sheet having a dark blue or purple color, the hyaline sheet being placed at an incline so that aqueous pulp flows from the inlet to the outlet by gravity in a relatively thin layer over the hyaline sheet. For aid in observation, a source of light is disposed adjacent to the receptacle so that it can impinge light at an angle to the aqueous pulp flowing over the hyaline sheet.

The apparatus is positioned where it can be readily used by the operators in viewing the stock which flows over the testing device and the operator can visually tell with his experience whether the refiner, in connection with which the testing device is generally employed, should be changed to alter the fiber lengths and is a quick means to inform him of what is happening. He can visually analyze as the stock passes over the blue glass in front of him prior to actually receiving the strength tests such as mullen, tear, porosity and freeness, on the stock. The hyaline sheet, such as blue acrylite plastic, is transparent and serves as a very good background in viewing the fibers as they flow across the blue plate. Actually, the operator can observe the amount of grit contained in reject stock on the blue glass as it is quite visible. With the flood light focused on the glass at a slight angle, he can visually determine whether the stock is normal, from his experienced observations.

This continuous testing operation gives the operators a much better control over the screening and refining equipment that is used for example on reject stock from the primary and secondary paper making screens. The accepted stock is based on how well controlled the refining equipment is handled to take care of the rejected stock which is continuously being processed, that is, blended, to provide a minimum of rejected material. Of course, the present invention is useful not only in evaluating for example groundwood reject stock but is also valuable in producing and evaluating chip groundwood in the three stages which are normally used in the groundwood 3,606,912 Patented Sept. 21, 1971 paper making process. For example, groundwood to be tested can be mixed with Water and piped to the inlet well end of the device by control valves to obtain the proper dilution desired to flow across the hyaline inspection sheet and to flow out of the discharge well in a continuous process.

The testing device of the present invention, its details of construction and advantages, will be further apparent from a consideration of the following specification and accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a section on the line 22 of FIG. 1.

Referring to the drawings, the testing device which is generally rectangular comprises the side walls 10, 10 and the end walls 11 and 12. The end wall 12 together with the bottom wall section 13 and second side Wall portion 14 comprise an inlet Well and the end wall 11, the bottom section 15 and wall portion 16 together with the side walls 10, 10 provide an outlet Well. Between the short intermediate walls 14 and 16 and the side Walls 10, 10 there is supported the hyaline sheet 17 elevated above the bottoms .13 and 15 of the inlet and outlet walls. The device is supported on standards 18 at each of its corners on adjustable foot portions 19 so that the hyaline sheet 17 can be placed at a slight incline, say of less than one percent, from the inlet end to the outlet end. The outlet end is provided with outlet conduit 20 and the inlet well is provided with the conduit 21 controlled by the valve 22 for introducing aqueous pulp and a line 23 controlled by valve 24 is provided for introducing diluting water to the inlet pulp. A lamp or flood light 25 is mounted so that it can project a beam of light against the hyaline sheet 17 and the aqueous pulp flowing thereover for visual inspection thereof.

The valves 22 and 24 are used to control the consistency of the introduced paper stock to be tested, such as for example in testing a groundwood refined stock where it is desirable to be diluted to a consistency of less than one-half percent, and this permits the operator to visually tell, with his experience, the fiber lengths, impurities, and the like and provides a quick means of informing him of what is happening and what processing changes, if any, are required.

I claim:

1. A device for observing the character of aqueou paper pulp stocks which comprises a receptacle, a dark colored transparent hyaline sheet supported substantially horizontally in said receptacle and means for continuously flowing a relatively thin layer of aqueous paper pulp over said hyaline sheet for visual inspection.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein said receptacle is rectangular and includes means for introducing aqueous paper stock and diluting Water at one end and means for discharging said diluted paper stock at the opposed end of the receptacle, the hyaline sheet being disposed between said inlet and outlet means.

3. The device of claim 2 wherein said hyaline sheet is slightly inclined downwardly from said inlet to said outlet means.

4. The device of claim 2 wherein said receptacle includes an inlet well and an outlet well and said hyaline sheet is disposed at an incline between them whereby aqueous paper stock can continuously flow over said sheet by gravity.

5. The device of claim 1 wherein said hyaline sheet is composed of dark blue or purple colored plastic or glass.

6. The device of claim 1 further including a separate 3 4 source of light adapted to impinge at an angle to said OTHER REFERENCES 7 hyalme Sheet Pulp and Paper Science and Technology, vol. I, Pulp,

References Clted McGraw-Hill Book 00., copyright 1962, pp. 143, 144. UNITED STATES PATENTS 1 468 075 9/1923 Pfimd 5 WILLIAM R. CLINE, Primary Examiner 1,589,120 6/1926 Crandell 162--263 1,859,035 5/1932 Hall 356208 1,906,345 5/1933 Waller 356-246X 3,464,772 9/1969 Day 356246X 10 

